Wednesday, September 10, 2008

"10/09/2008 Egyptian authorities on Wednesday blocked an opposition convoy headed for the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip to protest the territory's punishing blockade, a security official said.

The group of judges, independent MPs, members of the main opposition Muslim Brotherhood and activists from other parties wants to protest the continued closure of the Rafah crossing by Israel and Egypt.

Another security official said police had stopped an initial part of the convoy made up of about 50 people in Ismailiya, on the Suez Canal, with a second part of the convoy set to leave Cairo in the afternoon. Police have set up further checkpoints on the road between Ismailiya and the town of El-Arish in northern Sinai, the security official said, asking not to be named. "The authorities have reinforced security measures on ferries crossing the Suez Canal into the Sinai peninsula," he added. The Rafah crossing in southern Gaza is the territory's only one that is not under the control of Israel, which sealed off the coastal strip after Hamas seized power there in June 2007.

"We want the Israeli blockade that is making our Palestinian brothers live in inhuman conditions to be lifted," said Muslim Brother MP and convoy spokesman Hamdi Hassan before leaving Cairo. "We also want to denounce the Egyptian government which is keeping the Rafah crossing closed in agreement with Israel, which makes life even more difficult for the Palestinians. "The Egyptian government is destroying the tunnels which were the only means the Gaza Strip had to receive aid," he said.

Earlier this month, Egypt opened Rafah briefly to allow thousands in and out of the besieged Hamas-run territory, including Palestinians requiring treatment in Egyptian hospitals, and Palestinians holding Egyptian passports."